Shoreline’s 2026 Proposition 1:
The Metropolitan Park District

Is This the Same as a Bond Levy?

The Quick Answer

No. A bond levy is a voter-approved tax to pay specific debt in a set amount of time — the tax ends when the debt is paid. A bond levy requires 60% voter approval. This Proposition establishes a whole new taxing district and only requires 50% voter approval. The new taxes will be permanent and can be directed to pay for other future facilities without further voter approval.

For a Bond Issue (which this is not)

  • A 60% supermajority is required to approve
  • Taxes may only be used to service the bonds, and end when bonds are paid off (e.g. 20 years)
  • Qualified Low-income Seniors, Veterans, or Disabled Persons are exempt from the new tax

For a Metropolitan Park District (which this is)

  • A plain 50% majority is required to approve
  • The District, and its new tax levy, lasts forever. The revenue may be used for anything within the District's mission.
  • The low-income exemption or deferral does not apply to the new tax, so the new tax hits low-income Seniors Citizens, Veterans, and Disabled homeowners particularly hard.

The Details

For the gory details, you may read more about the mechanics of how Metropolitan Park Districts (MPD) work here. (Keep in mind that the article is written by the MRSC, an organization whose purpose is in large part to advise Cities as to how they may increase their revenue.)

Really Just a Loophole

The Metropolitan Park District as proposed by this year's Proposition 1 is really just a loophole to create another revenue stream for the City.

The Proposition states that the board of the new Park District will consist ex officio of the City Council:

Section 1: Metropolitan Park District. The Shoreline City Council proposes that a metropolitan park district be created; that the district be called the "Shoreline Metropolitan Park District;" that its boundaries be the same as the Shoreline corporate limits; and that the Shoreline City Council serve as the ex officio board of commissioners.

The City's plans are that the Park District will sign its new tax revenues over to the City, with the City taking responsibility for constructing, maintaining, and operating the new pool. From the "packet" written for the 2026 City Council Strategic Planning session on March 6 & 7, 2026:

If moving forward with a ballot measure to create an MPD, staff recommend that revenue generated by the MPD be passed through to the City to include in the City’s budget to build, run, and maintain a pool facility. Staff further recommend that Councilmembers serve as the MPD commissioners in an ex officio capacity. As two separate entities, the MPD and the City would sign a service agreement that outlines terms for revenue generated by the MPD to be passed through to the City. The MPD would not have any direct employees.